The No. 2-seeded Beck starts against the upset specialist Mattek-Sands…Wildcards were awarded to Canucks Francoise Abanda, Aleksandra Wozniak and Carol Zhao…The last three seeds are ranked outside the WTA Top 90…

Top-seeded Sloane Stephens withdrew from the event after the draw was made…Now no Top 30 players in the field…Possible tough starts for (4) Niculescu vs. McHale, and (2) Giorgi vs. Diyas, who found herself seeded as numerous events last year…Bouchard in the lower half ready to meet the No. 8 and 2 seeds early…

He’s not officially in, but David Ferrer took a big step toward qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday when he defeated American Steve Johnson 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to win the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria.

Notes: When world No. 1 Serena Williams is your only Top 20 player in the field, is it safe to say you’ve put all your eggs (aka appearance money) in one basket?…Wildcards were awarded to Swedes Sofia Arvidsson, Susanne Celik and Rebecca Peterson…Pulling from the event were the American triumvirate of Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Christina McHale and Sloane Stephens…In last year’s final Barthel beat Chanelle Scheepers…Former champs in the field are Barthel (2014) and Serena Williams (2013).

Notes: Gulbis is defending the Nice title (d. Federico Delbonis) then a Roland Garros semifinal…Gulbis is 1-11 win-loss this year…(8) Monaco could start against Querrey…Wildcards went to France’s Maxime Hamou and Lucas Pouille, and Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis…Withdrawing from the tournament were Simone Bolelli, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Martin Klizan, and Diego Schwartzman…Gulbis (2015) is the lone returning champ in the field.

Notes: A Czech offensive in Prague with the first three seeds from the home country…(8) Giorgi starts against the resurgent Wickmayer…Wildcards were awarded to Czechs Denisa Allertova and Klara Koukalova, and Slovak Kristina Schmiedlova…Pulling from the event were former champ Magdalena Rybarikova and Carla Suarez Navarro…Pliskova is the top seed in singles and doubles…In last year’s final Brit Heather Watson beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova…Former champs in the field are Watson (2014)and Safarova (2013-12).

Not a lot of floating talent in the field, with a potential tough start for (16) Watson vs. the riser Vekic; (1) Bouchard could face Stephens in the 3rd rd…Wildcards went to Bouchard and Americans Varvara Lepchenko, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sachia Vickery…

Tough starts go to (1) Gasquet vs. either Baghdatis or Evgeny Donskoy, (5) Istomin vs. Russian (WC) Andrey Kuznetsov, and (7) Sousa vs. Stakhovsky…Seeds making their debuts at the event are Gasquet, Sousa and Mannarino…Russians have won the event 14 times since 1990…Last year Seppi beat Thomaz Bellucci in the final…Notable pulls from the event were Nikolay Davydenko (wrist) and Stan Wawrinka…Returning former champs in the field are Seppi (2012) and Tipsarevic (2011).

Notes: Three former No. 1s among the seeds…No Williams sisters but plenty of Top 10ers and floaters…The Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…Tough openers for (1) Azarenka after a bye against Pennetta or Schiavone, (4) Vinci after a bye likely against the veteran Mattek-Sands, (7) Ivanovic vs. Cibulkova, (5) Stosur vs. the rolling Lepchenko, and (2) Radwanska after a bye likely vs. the veteran Hantuchova…Wildcards went to American Allie Kiick, France’s Virginie Razzano, and Stosur…Pulling from the event were Marion Bartoli, Kirsten Flipkens, Bojana Jovanovski, Kristina Mladenovic and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova…Martina Hingis and Hantuchova received a wildcard in doubles…Cibulkova beat Bartoli in the final last year…Returning champions in the field are Cibulkova (2012), Radwanska (2011), and Kuznetsova (2010).